Posts Tagged ‘challenge’

What have you been doing today? Have you celebrated this special holiday?

I made a bunch of cards…

It all started when I went through my Google reader and saw all the WCMD challenges. Then one challenge in particular had caught my eye, Robyn’s Argyle challenge on Studio Calico’s blog. As soon as I saw it I thought about using my Everyday Hexagons stamps to create the argyle with a little bit of paper piecing, as each hexagon is made out of 6 equilateral triangles. Perfect!

So I took a few stamps and inked them with some Distress and Jenni Bowlin inks and started cutting them into triangles… Then all I had left was assembly. Pretty easy.

Here’s a closer look at each card and the supply used to make them at the end (Each card is made with pretty much the same supply and tools):

Here are my cards –

On this card I wrapped an entire mat (which measures 4″ by 5¼”) with strips of washi tape. Then I adhered it to the center of the card fron with foam dots – a ton of them, to prevent it from sinking down. I then aligned my Stepping Stones stamps on my new Fiskars Compact Stamp Press (check out the link below for a good price on Amazon…) and when I needed more than 1 letter, I just used the outlined version… I also stamped one ‘A’ on the flip-side and then stamped the outlined version with Versamark ink and white embossed it on top. I love the quirky look. Great for a masculine birthday card.

This time I used the exact same technique, only instead of wrapping a mat, I wrapped three stamped speech bubbles cut-outs from the ‘Hey Y’All’ stamp set. After wrapping it with washi tapes I re-stamped the images with Stazon Jet Black ink and went over it with a permanent marker to make the outline look neater. I also stamped the sentiment and the cute restroom images (how would you call them!?) from that stamp set – again with Stazon and a touch of a permanent marker. To complete the card I added a few washi tape banners on the top left side and outlined everything with the same permanent marker.

First. The domino effect represents a state of flow. After the first tile has dropped, the entire line of tiles is falling, one-by-one, until there is no tile left standing.

So is working in a state of creative flow. After the first couple of awkward lines has been put onto the paper or the first couple of sentences has been typed, there is no stop until a masterpiece emerges.

Second. The domino effect also represents a creative way to deal with mishaps or accidental occurrences. A whole new game (and perhaps a sport) evolved by chance. I remember my grandmother and grandfather used to play domino on the big dining room table, only instead of laying the tiles horizontally they laid it vertically. Looking at them playing, I can imagine how the falling dominoes game was invented…

So are many creative projects. One mistake. One wrong stroke, over heating or mixing the wrong materials can bring to wonderful creations of fine art.

For this week’s inspiration prompt I suggest to derive inspiration from the domino effect. We can benefit both from its representation of creative flow and of dealing with mishaps creatively.

This prompt was inspired by one of my readers – Alexander Gartley – who made this wonderful project, together with his co-workers, to promote a creativity and innovation festival at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where they work:

Whether we ask for it or not life has in store for us an abundance of challenges. As long as we are trying we will never fail. As long as we believe in our ability to overcome – we will succeed. Though there is one thing we should learn how to do and it is to allow ourselves to get help.

Getting help from a friend or a kind person is not failure, it is the means to success.

Every problem has its solution and some problems can be solved only by mutual work. Getting help doesn’t mean we are unable to solve the problem. It merely means we have identified the solution and it includes another person in it.

Be open. Be hopeful and optimistic. Keep on trying and don’t refuse a helping hand.

I saw this video on You Tube and it conveys this inspiration prompt wonderfully:

Share

Are you willing to keep on trying and get help when you need it? Share your thoughts and comment on this post.